Tuukka Rask
| birth_place = Savonlinna, Finland | draft = 21st overall | draft_year = 2005 | draft_team = Toronto Maple Leafs | career_start = 2004 | ntl_team = Finland }} Tuukka Rask (born Tuukka Mikael Rask on March 10, 1987) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted 21st overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. On June 24, 2006, his rights were traded to the Bruins in exchange for goaltender Andrew Raycroft. Playing Career Tuukka started his career in the youth teams of his hometown club SaPKo in Savonlinna, Finland. Then, he played in 27 games for the Tampere-based Ilves Jr. in the Finnish Junior League. His goals against average (GAA) was 1.86 with two shutouts and a .935 save percentage. He was the top ranked European goaltender in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Tuukka played his last European ice hockey season as the number one goaltender for the Ilves senior team in the Finnish top-flight SM-liiga. The Toronto Maple Leafs drafted Tuukka in the first round (21st overall) of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. Before playing a single regular season game for Toronto, he was traded to the Boston Bruins for former Calder Trophy winning goaltender Andrew Raycroft. Toronto management had deemed Justin Pogge their potential goaltender of the future, and Rask became expendable. It was later revealed that the Bruins intended to release Raycroft which would have made him available to Toronto without giving up Tuukka. On May 5, 2007, Tuukka signed a three-year contract with the Boston Bruins, and was in attendance to observe the Providence Bruins's 2006–07 playoff run for the American Hockey League (AHL)'s Calder Cup championship. The Providence team did not make it past the second round of the Calder Cup against the Manchester Monarchs, but Rask practiced with the Providence team briefly. On November 5, 2007, Tuukka was called up from Providence to the Boston Bruins for the first time. Just two weeks later on November 20, 2007, Tuukka recorded his first NHL win, a 4–2 victory on the road against his former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. On October 3, 2008, the Bruins assigned him to the Providence Bruins. Tuukka had the best save percentage (.952) among the goalies in pre-season play, followed by teammates Manny Fernandez (.875), Tim Thomas (.869) and Kevin Regan (.857). Despite this the team decided to go with the two veteran goaltenders, Thomas and Fernandez for the 2008–09 season. With nagging back spasms keeping Fernandez from play shortly after the All-Star Game break, Tuukka was once again called up to serve as a second goaltender. On January 31, 2009, Tuukka played his first (and only) game with the Bruins in the 2008–09 season, and earned his first ever NHL shutout, a 1–0 home effort against the New York Rangers with Marc Savard scoring the only Bruins goal. Not long after the beginning of the 2009–10 season, Tuukka (who had been named the backup goaltender to Thomas) signed a two-year extension to his contract with the Bruins on November 5, 2009 that kept him under contract through the 2011–12 season. In the 2009-10 regular season, Tuukka was the only goalie with a goals against average less than 2.00 and the only goalie with a save percentage over .930. Despite having been the only qualifying rookie in NHL history to lead the league with a sub-2.00 goals against average as well as lead the league in save percentage and having supplanted the Vezina Trophy winner Thomas as the starter, Tuukka was not named as a finalist for the rookie of the year award. In the 2010-11 NHL season, Thomas returned to form, making Tuukka once again the backup. With the Bruins winning the Stanley Cup for Boston, Tuukka became only the second Finnish goaltender to do so after Antti Niemi of the Chicago Blackhawks the previous year. On June 28, 2012, Tuukka re-signed with the Boston Bruins on a one-year, $3.5 million deal. Prior to the declaration of the 2012–13 lockout, Tuukka was named as the starting goalie for the Bruins, replacing Tim Thomas who would eventually be traded to the New York Islanders on February 7, 2013. He led the Bruins to their second Stanley Cup final in 3 years, but they lost in 6 games to the Chicago Blackhawks. On July 10, 2013, the Bruins re-signed Tuukka to an eight-year, $56 million contract. During the NHL lockout, Tuukka played for HC Plzeň which won the Czech Extraliga that year. Career Statistics Playoff Statistics Personal Life Tuukka's brother is Nashville Predators forward Joonas Rask. Category:Boston Bruins players Category:Finland players Category:Goaltenders Category:Finnish ice hockey goaltenders Category:1987 births